Arister Corden was born around 1855 in North Carolina. Corden was a grocer who resided in Beaufort County, North Carolina. Corden was charged with larceny and receiving stolen goods in Martin County, North Carolina, on March 11, 1878, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Corden was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2597. Corden's race is noted as "colored." Corden was twenty-three years old when he was arrested. Corden was noted as being able to both read and write. During his incarceration, Corden was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on January 3, 1880.